Processing multiple point-of-sale transactions

ABSTRACT

A point-of-sale system for concurrently processing multiple point of sale transactions, each point of sale transaction including an item input portion and a payment portion of the transaction, each portion performed in series. The point-of-sale system comprises a customer facing terminal and a merchant facing terminal. The system can comprise a plurality of customer facing terminals and can be portable. The customer facing terminal is configured to receive an input of payment information for a first point of sale transaction during a payment portion of the first point of sale transaction. The merchant facing terminal is configured to receive an input of an item selection for a second point of sale transaction during an item input portion of the second point of sale transaction and during the payment portion of the first point of sale transaction.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/572,692, filed on Dec. 16, 2014, entitled “PROCESSING MULTIPLEPOINT-OF-SALE TRANSACTIONS”, which is hereby expressly incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Consumers can interact with merchants to conduct various financialpayment transactions. For example, a consumer can conduct a transactionwith a merchant at a point-of-sale system using cash, a transactioncard, or other transaction instrument. Conventional systems can includeexpensive and bulky financial transaction electronics, as may include acard reader for payment cards (e.g., debit or credit cards), a cashdrawer, monitors, keyboards, and various other electronic devices.Oftentimes, however, this equipment can be costly and large, requiringadditional space and resources. Further, in retail stores where space islimited, a merchant may not require all components that come withconventional point-of-sale system or at least may find it desirable topiece together a modular or mobile system to streamline the checkoutexperience. Further still, merchants may find approaches to conducting afinancial transaction using conventional systems burdensome, whereduring a transaction, if a customer pays by credit card, the merchanthas to enter a transaction amount and the merchant or the customer hasto swipe the credit card in the card reader. Further, many transactionsrequire that the customer sign a physical receipt, electronicallyapprove a transaction, e.g., by pressing an approve button on a userinterface, electronically sign for the transaction, e.g., with a stylusor finger on an electronic signature capture device with a touchsensitive pad, or enter an authorizing personal identification number(PIN), many of which techniques require additional financial transactionelectronics and time. Some point-of-sale systems require multiple typesof card readers and/or complex and bulky card-reading equipment in orderto accept multiple types of payment cards. As the number of transactionsincreases, it is increasingly more time consuming to perform eachtransaction and even more time consuming to perform multipletransactions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to describe the manner in which features of the disclosure canbe obtained, a more particular description of the principles will berendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which areillustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawingsdepict only exemplary embodiments of the disclosure and are nottherefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the principlesherein are described and explained with additional specificity anddetail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment for implementing a merchantpayment system;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example schematic diagram of components of eachterminal in the point-of-sale system in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example diagram of flow of data between thecomponents of the point-of-sale system in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 4A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminal of apoint-of-sale system displaying a merchant graphical user interface(GUI) in a “null” or ready state, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 4B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminal of apoint-of-sale system displaying a customer GUI in a ready state, inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 5A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminal of apoint-of-sale system displaying a merchant GUI after a merchant hasselected an item to input for a first point-of-sale transaction, inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 5B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminal anddisplaying the total cost for the item input portion, in accordance withsome embodiments;

FIG. 6A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminaldisplaying a merchant GUI showing payment options, in accordance withsome embodiments;

FIG. 6B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminaldisplaying a customer GUI that is prompting the customer to start thepayment portion for the first point-of-sale transaction, in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 7A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminal anddisplaying options available to a merchant once the item input portionof the first point-of-sale transaction is complete and control of thefirst point-of-sale transaction is transferred to the customer facingterminal, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 7B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminaldisplaying a customer GUI showing the customer continuing the paymentportion of the first point-of-sale transaction, in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 8A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminaldisplaying a merchant GUI for a merchant to initiate a secondpoint-of-sale transaction, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 8B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminaldisplaying a customer GUI showing the customer continuing the paymentportion of the first point-of-sale transaction, in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 9A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminaldisplaying a merchant GUI with the options available to the merchant forparticipating in the payment portion of the first point-of-saletransaction, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 9B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminaldisplaying a customer GUI showing the customer continuing the paymentportion of the first point-of-sale transaction, in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 10A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminaldisplaying a merchant GUI for performing an item input portion for asecond point-of-sale transaction, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 10B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminaldisplaying a customer GUI showing the customer continuing the paymentportion of the first point-of-sale transaction, in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 11A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminaldisplaying a merchant GUI for allowing a merchant to select the totalamount of the sale and complete the item input portion for the secondpoint-of-sale transaction, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 11B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminaldisplaying a customer GUI showing the customer continuing the paymentportion of the first point-of-sale transaction, in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 12A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminaldisplaying a merchant GUI showing options available to merchant forperforming the payment portion of the second point-of-sale transaction,in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 12B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminaldisplaying a customer GUI showing the customer continuing the paymentportion of the first point-of-sale transaction, in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 13A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminaldisplaying a merchant GUI showing a merchant's ability to make aselection of a dollar amount to be paid to the merchant, in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 13B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminaldisplaying a customer GUI showing the customer continuing the paymentportion of the first point-of-sale transaction, in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 14A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminaldisplaying a merchant GUI showing the change available to a customer ofthe second point-of-sale transaction, in accordance with someembodiments; and

FIG. 14B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminaldisplaying a customer GUI showing the customer continuing the paymentportion of the first point-of-sale transaction which occurs concurrentlywith the item input portion and, in this case, the payment portion ofthe second point-of-sale transaction, in accordance with someembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods in accordance with various embodiments of thepresent disclosure overcome one or more of the above-referenced andother deficiencies in conventional approaches to conducting financialtransactions.

In accordance with various embodiments, the point-of-sale system is adual-screen stand assembly that includes a merchant terminal and aconsumer (or “customer” as used interchangeably herein) terminal used inconcurrently performing multiple point-of-sale transactions. Themerchant terminal supports a merchant computing device and is orientedin a merchant facing direction to allow a merchant to interact with themerchant facing terminal. The consumer terminal is detachably mated tothe merchant terminal and supports a consumer computing device that isoriented in a consumer-facing direction to allow one or more customersto interact with the customer-facing terminal. The merchant terminal andthe consumer terminal can be detachably mated together in a fixedposition to form a single unitary point of sale system including amerchant facing terminal and a consumer facing terminal. The terminalscan also be separated from each other and arranged in a separatedposition with each terminal being physically independent of the other.One or more of the terminals can also be portable. The point-of-salesystem can also support multiple customer terminals that communicateover a local network directly or more generally over a wider network tothe merchant terminal. The point-of-sale system also includes a cardreader as part of the customer terminal and/or the merchant terminal toperform a payment. The card reader is configured to accept swipe cards,chip cards (Europay, MasterCard and Visa hereinafter “EMV”) orcontactless (low power bluetooth or near-field communication,hereinafter “NFC”) payments. The card reader can be part of one or bothof the merchant terminal and the customer terminal.

As used herein, the term “point-of-sale transaction” refers to atransaction that takes place between a buyer and a seller that arephysically present at a point-of-sale device. In the point-of-saletransaction, there is an item(s) (such as a good or a service) beingoffered for sale by a merchant to be purchased by a customer. Eachpoint-of-sale transaction generally includes an “item input portion”which refers to the input of an item(s) that is received at a merchantterminal, and a “payment portion” in which payment for the item(s) isreceived. Advantageously, the point-of-sale system can input the itemportion for multiple point-of-sale transactions concurrently withouthaving to wait for the payment portion to complete for each one. In thismanner, a merchant can input the item input portion of a firstpoint-of-sale transaction for a first buyer in the merchant terminal,and control of the transaction can be transferred to the customerterminal so that the customer can then input the payment portion at acustomer terminal, and while the first customer inputs the paymentportion for the first transaction at the customer terminal, the merchantcan initiate a second transaction for a second customer at the merchantterminal. The first customer can continue the payment process while thesecond point-of-sale transaction is processed and while the payment forthe second point-of-sale transaction is processed. The payment for thesecond point-of-sale transaction can be processed by the merchant, bythe first customer terminal after payment of the first point-of-saletransaction is complete, or at a second customer terminal. This allowsthe merchant to multi-task and process multiple transactionsconcurrently, while also allowing merchant to take control of a paymentthat is in progress if needed. It is possible for the payment portionfor two or more point-of-sale transactions to be processed concurrently.For example, a merchant can perform the input portion for a firsttransaction and then transfer the first transaction to a first customerterminal for the first customer to perform payment of the firsttransaction. The merchant can then perform the input portion for asecond transaction and transfer control of the second transaction to asecond customer terminal for a second customer to perform payment of thesecond transaction. The payment for the first transaction and the secondtransaction can occur concurrently. The payment for the firsttransaction and the second transaction can also occur while a thirdtransaction is entered into the merchant terminal in the item inputportion of the transaction.

The point-of-sale system is configured to present an interface to themerchant terminal to receive selection of an item by the merchantregarding a first item for sale or a service being sold by the merchantin a first point-of-sale transaction. The information can then be put ina background state and control of the first point-of-sale transactioncan be transferred to the customer terminal. The customer facingterminal thus performs the payment portion of the first point-of-saletransaction by a first customer interacting with the customer facingterminal while the merchant facing terminal is able to concurrentlyreceive an item input portion for a second point-of-sale transaction.The merchant terminal can also perform the payment portion of the secondtransaction with the second customer at the merchant terminal while thepayment for the first transaction is processed by the customer terminal.The payment portion of the second transaction can be performed by thecustomer terminal after completion of the payment portion of the firsttransaction. The payment portion of the second transaction can also beperformed by the merchant terminal, for example, if the first customeris unable to complete the financial transaction. The payment portion ofthe first transaction can be processed before, or after, performingpayment of the second transaction. For example, the merchant terminalcan input the item portion for the first transaction, transfer controlof the first transaction to the first customer terminal, and then thecustomer terminal can perform the payment portion while being operatedby the first customer. Then, the item input for the second customer canbe received by the merchant terminal. The merchant terminal can completethe payment portion of the second transaction and, upon completion, canalso complete the payment of the first transaction if the first customerhas still not completed the payment portion of the first transaction.Payment information acquired from the payment card at either themerchant terminal or the customer terminal, and the appropriateverification thereof, is provided to a payment system. Paymentconfirmation is received from the payment system, which can be displayedon one or both of the merchant terminal and the consumer terminal.

Other advantages, variations, and functions are described and suggestedbelow as may be provided in accordance with the various embodiments.Reference is now made to FIG. 1 illustrating an example of anenvironment 100 for implementing a payment service network. Although amobile device environment is described for purposes of explanation,different environments may be used, e.g., a web-based environment, toimplement various embodiments. The example environment includes apayment system 108, which can be implemented as computer programs on oneor more computers in one or more locations, in which the systems,components, and techniques described below can be implemented. Theexample environment also includes a user customer device 102, 104 and amerchant device 105. The customer and the merchant can also be connectedlocally via direct or wireless connection to communicate with each otherover a local network, or can be connected over a worldwide distributednetwork, such as the Internet.

The customer device and the merchant device can each be a computercoupled to the payment system through a data communication network 150,e.g., the Internet. The customer device and the merchant device eachgenerally include a memory, e.g., a random access memory (RAM), forstoring instructions and data, and a processor for executing storedinstructions. The customer device and the merchant device can eachinclude one or more components, e.g., software or hardware, that areconfigured to respectively determine a geographic location of thecustomer device or the merchant device, using, for example, variousgeolocation techniques, e.g., a global positioning system (GPS).Further, the customer device and the merchant device can each be anyappropriate device operable to send and receive requests, messages, orother types of information over the network. Some examples of customerdevices include personal computers, cellular phones, handheld messagingdevices, laptop computers, personal data assistants, tablet devices, andthe like.

The network can include any appropriate network, including an intranet,the Internet, a cellular network, a local area network, a wide areanetwork, or any other such network, or combination thereof. Componentsused for such a system can depend at least in part upon the type ofnetwork, the environment selected, or both. Protocols and components forcommunicating over such a network are well known and will not bediscussed herein in detail. The payment system, the merchant device, andthe customer device can communicate over the network using wired orwireless connections, and combinations thereof.

As used in this specification, a financial transaction is a transactionthat is conducted between a customer and a merchant at a point-of-sale.When paying for a financial transaction, the customer can provide themerchant with cash, a check, or credit card for the amount that is due.The merchant can interact with a point-of-sale device, e.g., merchantdevice, to process the financial transaction. During financialtransactions, the point-of-sale device can collect data describing thefinancial transaction, including, for example, the amount of paymentreceived from customers.

In an example embodiment, the point-of-sale system includes a singlecustomer terminal and a single merchant terminal that can be securedtogether or detachably connected so that the customer terminal isportable. In another example embodiment, the point-of-sale systemprovides a plurality of customer devices (e.g. customer devices 102,104) each locally (or networked) coupled to a merchant terminal (e.g.merchant terminal 105) for processing multiple point-of-saletransactions concurrently.

In some implementations, the payment system is configured to acceptcard-less payment transactions from customers, e.g., the customer. Asused in this specification, a card-less payment transaction is atransaction conducted between the customer and a merchant at thepoint-of-sale during which a financial account of the customer ischarged without the customer having to physically present a financialpayment card or other physical instrument to the merchant at thepoint-of-sale. That is, the customer need not provide any details aboutthe financial account, e.g., the credit card issuer or credit cardnumber, for the transaction to be processed.

Before conducting card-less payment transactions, the customer typicallycreates a user account with the payment system. The customer can createthe user account, for example, by interacting with a user applicationthat is configured to perform card-less payment transactions and that isrunning on the user device. When creating a user account with thepayment system, the customer will provide information of the customer,data describing a financial account of the customer, e.g., credit cardnumber, expiration date, and a billing address. This user informationcan be securely stored by the payment system, for example, in a userinformation database. To accept card-less payment transactions, themerchant typically creates a merchant account with the payment system byproviding information describing the merchant including, for example, amerchant name, contact information, e.g., telephone numbers, themerchant's geographic location address, and one or more financialaccounts to which funds collected from users will be deposited. Thismerchant information can be securely stored by the payment system, forexample, in a merchant information database.

The payment system is configured to perform card-less paymenttransactions. The payment system can include one or more servers thatare configured to securely perform electronic financial transactions,e.g., electronic payment transactions, between a customer and amerchant, for example, through data communicated between the customerdevice and the merchant device. Generally, when a customer and amerchant enter into an electronic financial transaction, the transactionis processed by transferring funds from a financial account associatedwith the user account to a financial account associated with themerchant account.

The payment system is configured to send and receive data to and fromthe customer device and the merchant device. For example, the paymentsystem can be configured to send data describing merchants to thecustomer device using, for example, the information stored in themerchant information database 112. For example, the payment system cancommunicate data describing merchants that are within a thresholdgeographic distance from a geographic location of the user device, asdescribed in this specification. The data describing merchants caninclude, for example, a merchant name, geographic location, contactinformation, and an electronic catalogue, e.g., a menu, that describesitems that are available for purchase from the merchant.

The payment system can also be configured to communicate with a computersystem 616 of a card payment network, e.g., Visa or MasterCard, over thenetwork, or over a different network, for example, to conduct electronicfinancial transactions. The computer system of the card payment networkcan communicate with a computer system 116 of a card issuer, e.g., abank. There may be computer systems of other entities, e.g., the cardacquirer, between the payment system and the computer system of the cardissuer.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2 illustrating an example schematicdiagram of components of each terminal in the point-of-sale system inaccordance with an embodiment. The point-of-sale system 200 includes amerchant terminal 210 and a consumer terminal 212 that can be detachablyconnected to each other.

The merchant terminal 210 includes a processor 214 and associated ROMmemory 216 and RAM memory 220. The ROM memory can have a merchantregister application stored thereon for presenting the merchantinterface and interacting with the merchant interface. The processor 214can be a SoC (system-on-chip) processor. A graphical user interface(GUI) 224 can be operatively connected to the processor for displayingvarious GUI displays on the merchant terminal.

The merchant terminal 210 and the consumer terminal 212 engage inbidirectional communication via the USB port 226 on the merchantterminal 210 which is coupled to the USB port 262 of the consumerterminal. It is also possible that the merchant terminal 210 and theconsumer terminal 212 are not directly wired together, but insteadcommunicate wirelessly, for example via WiFi transceiver 228 on themerchant terminal 210 and WiFi transceiver 260. The transceiver 228 andtransceiver 260 can also include a GPS receiver and BlueToothcapabilities.

The merchant terminal 210 includes a microcontroller (MCU) 230 incommunication with the processor 214. The merchant terminal 210 iscapable of processing payments in this embodiment. A magnetic stripecard can be read by the magnetic head 232 and then sent by the MagneticStripe Reader (MSR) 234 to the MCU 230. EMV cards can be processed bydirect contact using EMV contact block 236 that are read and provided tothe MCU 230 by EMV contact interface 238. EMV contactless cards can beprocessed by the EMV contactless antenna 240 providing the signal to theEMV contactless interface 242 so that it can be provided to the MCU 230.The payment information is then given to the processor 214 to properlyprovide the information to the desired entity or entities. In thisembodiment, both the merchant terminal and the consumer terminal havecard readers and related components to perform the payment portion ofthe point-of-sale transactions, the card readers and related componentsincluding the magnetic head 232, MSR 234, EMV contact block 236, EMVcontact interface 238, EMV contactless antenna and EMV contactlessinterface. In some embodiments, the merchant terminal can be free of anycard readers so that the card readers are only found on the customerterminal(s). In this manner, a more streamlined merchant terminal can beprovided that does not have the card readers and associatedinterconnections. The merchant terminal in that instance would only havean internal processor, ROM memory, RAM memory, a GUI interface andappropriate connectivity to the various networks, and payments of theitem(s) would only be possible at the customer terminals.

The consumer terminal 212 includes a processor 250 and associated ROMmemory 252 and RAM memory 256. A consumer application can be stored inROM memory 252 to present an interface on the consumer terminal. Theprocessor 250 can be a SoC processor. A GUI 258 can be operativelyconnected to the processor for displaying various GUI displays on theconsumer terminal.

The consumer terminal 212 includes at least one USB port 262 forcommunicating, for example, with the merchant terminal 210. The consumerterminal 212 includes a WiFi transceiver that includes GPS and Bluetoothcapabilities for communicating with the consumer terminal 212.

The consumer terminal 212 includes a microprocessor (MCU) 264 incommunication with the processor 250. The consumer terminal 212 iscapable of processing payments and includes readers for both magneticstripe cards, and EMV cards, including both contact and contactlessforms of payment. A magnetic stripe card can be read by the magnetichead 266 and the signal is acquired by the Magnetic Stripe Reader (MSR)268 and send to the MCU 264. EMV cards can be processed by directcontact using EMV contact block 270 that is read, processed, andprovided to the MCU 264 by the EMV contact interface 272. EMVcontactless cards can be processed by the EMV contactless antenna 274providing the signal to the EMV contactless interface so that it can beprocessed and provided to the MCU 264. The payment information is thengiven to the processor 214 to properly provide the information to thedesired entity or entities.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3 illustrating an example diagram of flowof data between the components of the point-of-sale system in accordancewith an embodiment. The flow of data between the merchant terminal 310,the consumer terminal 312 and the payment system 314 are shown inaccordance with an example diagram. A merchant interface is presented320 at the merchant terminal 310. The input associated with the iteminput portion of a first point of sale transaction for a first item isreceived 322 at the merchant terminal. This can be input directly by amerchant into a GUI of the merchant terminal. After the item inputportion of the first item is complete, control of the first point ofsale transaction is transferred 324 to the customer terminal 213. Thepayment interface is then presented 326 to the consumer on the consumerterminal. The consumer terminal receives input for the payment portionof the first point of sale transaction 332. The payment information isthen acquired 334 by the consumer terminal and can be sent to themerchant terminal. Alternatively, the payment information can be sentdirectly 338 from the consumer terminal 312 to the payment system 314.

The first point-of-sale transaction can be designated into a backgroundstate 328 on the merchant terminal once the payment is initiated on theconsumer terminal by a first customer and/or when the item input portionof the first point-of-sale transaction is completed by the merchant. Theinput associated with the item input portion of a second point-of-saletransaction for a second item can then be received 330 at the merchantterminal 310 for a second customer.

The item input portion of the second point-of-sale transaction can bereceived 330 by the merchant terminal 312 concurrently while the paymentinformation 336 is also received by the merchant terminal 312. Also,although not shown, once the item input portion of a secondpoint-of-sale transaction for a second customer is performed at 330 andcompleted, the control of the second point-of-sale transaction can betransferred to the consumer terminal 312 after the item input portion ofthe first transaction is completed by the first customer. An indicatorcan be displayed on the customer terminal once the first customer hascompleted the payment portion of the first transaction to indicate tothe second customer that the second customer can perform the paymentportion of the second transaction on the customer terminal. In anembodiment, a second consumer terminal can be provided in addition toand separate from the consumer terminal 312 for receiving the paymentportion of point-of-sale transactions. In operation, a merchant receivesthe item input portion for a first point-of-sale transaction for a firstcustomer. Control of the first point-of-sale transaction can betransferred to the consumer terminal for the first customer to performpayment of the first transaction. While the first customer performspayment, the merchant can receive an item input portion for a seconditem for a second transaction for a second customer. If the firstcustomer is still not complete with the payment portion of the firsttransaction when the item input portion of the first transaction iscomplete, then a second customer terminal can be used to receive thepayment portion for the second transaction from the second customer.

The payment system 314 receives payment information 338, either directlyfrom the consumer terminal 312 or from the merchant terminal 310, andprovides a confirmation 340, either confirming or denying availabilityof the payment funds. Confirmation of the payment is sent 344 to theconsumer terminal 312 or 342 to the merchant terminal 310, or to bothterminals in certain embodiments. Once confirmation 342 of the paymentis received at the merchant terminal, the first point-of-saletransaction can be closed 346 by the merchant terminal 310.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 4A-14B showing various example views ofmerchant facing terminals and consumer facing terminals that are visibleduring the item input portion and the payment portion of multiplepoint-of-sale transactions.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminal of apoint-of-sale system displaying a merchant graphical user interface(GUI) in a “null” or ready state, in accordance with an embodiment. Asshown in FIG. 4A, an example GUI 410 is displayed on a merchant facingterminal. The GUI 410 can be displayed by a merchant application storedin memory of the merchant facing terminal that runs the merchantapplication. For example, the merchant application can be stored in ROMmemory 216 of FIG. 2. The GUI 410 includes an input portion 420 thatallows a merchant interacting with the merchant application to makeselections. The GUI 410 includes a “ticket” portion 430 that displaysdetails about the current ticket or tickets that are in the queue.Tickets that are in the “queue” have completed the item input portion ofthe point-of-sale transaction and have completed the payment portion ofthe point-of-sale transaction and the customer is still waiting for theitem that is described in the point-of-sale transaction. By selecting onthe item 422 in the input interface 420 of the GUI 410, a new item canbe added to a ticket, and the merchant is directed to a screen forcompleting the item input portion, for example the GUI 510 in FIG. 5.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminal of apoint-of-sale system displaying a customer GUI in a ready state, inaccordance with an embodiment. The example GUI 450 is displayed on acustomer facing terminal. The GUI 450 can be displayed by a customerapplication stored in memory of the customer facing terminal that runsthe customer application. For example, the customer application can bestored in ROM memory 252 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminal of apoint-of-sale system displaying a merchant GUI 510 after a merchant hasselected an item to input for a first point-of-sale transaction, inaccordance with an embodiment. By selecting the total purchase amount520, which is $73.70 for this example first point-of-sale transaction,the item input portion for the first point-of-sale transaction is nowcomplete and the control of the first point-of-sale transaction can betransferred manually or automatically to the consumer terminal. Anindicator can then prompt the first customer to initiate the paymentportion for the first point-of-sale transaction, as shown in FIG. 5B.FIG. 5B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminal anddisplaying a GUI 550 that shows the total cost for the item inputportion, in accordance with an embodiment. The customer GUI 550 providesthe customer with details of the order and the total cost due.

FIG. 6A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminaldisplaying a merchant GUI showing payment options, in accordance with anembodiment. The example GUI 610 is displayed on a merchant facingterminal. The GUI 610 can be displayed by a merchant application storedin memory of the merchant facing terminal that runs the merchantapplication. The GUI 610 provides merchants interacting with themerchant facing terminal with options for participating in the paymentportion of the point-of-sale transaction. A merchant can select the item622 to split the check, if desired. There are also several options forselecting cash 624 if the customer is paying with cash. The merchant canalso enter a card number 626 or perform another payment method 628.Other orders 630 and 632 are also shown on GUI 610.

FIG. 6B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminaldisplaying a customer GUI 650 that is prompting the customer to startthe payment portion for the first point-of-sale transaction, inaccordance with an embodiment. The customer GUI prompts a customer toinitiate payment with a message 660, such as “Swipe, Dip or Tap to Pay”.

A merchant interacting with the merchant application can now commence asecond point-of-sale transaction with a second consumer on the merchantfacing terminal while the payment portion of the first point-of-saletransaction is performed by the first consumer interacting with thecustomer application on the customer facing terminal. FIG. 7Aillustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminal and displayingoptions available to a merchant once the item input portion of the firstpoint-of-sale transaction is complete and control of the firstpoint-of-sale transaction has been transferred to the customer facingterminal, in accordance with an embodiment. The merchant GUI 710includes the item input interface 420 and an option 720 for entering anew ticket. As shown, there is a new group of tickets titled “inprogress” 730 which includes the “current sale” 740, referring to thesale that has a complete item input portion but is waiting for thepayment portion to be complete.

FIG. 7B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminaldisplaying a customer GUI 750 showing the customer facing terminal afterthe payment portion of the first point-of-sale transaction has beeninitiated, for example by inserting a payment card, in accordance withan embodiment. As shown, a custom message can be displayed to thecustomer. The merchant is able to interact with the merchant applicationand enter another item in another point-of-sale transaction while thepayment portion is processed on the customer terminal.

FIG. 8A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminaldisplaying a merchant GUI 810 for a merchant to initiate a secondpoint-of-sale transaction, in accordance with an embodiment. The iteminput interface 420 allows the merchant to interact with the merchantapplication to add new items to the ticket. As shown by “New Ticket”830, a new ticket has been started. The progress of the firstpoint-of-sale transaction is also shown on the GUI 810 in an area 820which displays the text “Choosing Account” for example, when a customeris still performing the payment portion of the first point-of-saletransaction.

FIG. 8B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminaldisplaying a customer GUI 850 showing the first customer continuing thepayment portion of the first point-of-sale transaction, in accordancewith an embodiment. As shown, the customer can select the account fromwhich they wish to have the payment applied for the point-of-saletransaction. Note that the merchant is not tied up by any delays in thecustomer performing the payment portion and is able to input the iteminput portion for a second point-of-sale transaction while the paymentportion if performed for a first point-of-sale transaction.

FIG. 9A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminaldisplaying a merchant GUI 910 with the options available to the merchantfor participating in the payment portion of the first point-of-saletransaction, in accordance with an embodiment. The merchant is able toselect the amount 920 or to cancel the sale 930 if desired.

FIG. 9B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminaldisplaying a customer GUI showing the first customer continuing thepayment portion of the first point-of-sale transaction, in accordancewith an embodiment, which can be displayed on the customer facingterminal at the same time as the GUI 910 is displayed in the merchantfacing terminal.

FIG. 10A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminaldisplaying a merchant GUI 1010 for performing an item input portion fora second point-of-sale transaction with a second customer, in accordancewith an embodiment. A new ticket 1032 for a second customer is startedand by selecting item 1022 from the item input interface 420 a merchantcreates a new ticket as shown in FIG. 11A.

FIG. 10B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminaldisplaying a customer GUI 850 showing the first customer continuing thepayment portion of the first point-of-sale transaction, in accordancewith an embodiment, which can be displayed to the first customer on thecustomer facing terminal at the same time as the GUI 1010 is displayedin the merchant facing terminal to the merchant interacting with thesecond customer.

FIG. 11A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminaldisplaying a merchant GUI for allowing a merchant to select the totalamount of the sale and complete the item input portion for the secondpoint-of-sale transaction, in accordance with an embodiment. Afterselecting, for example, item 1022 in FIG. 10A, a merchant is directed toa screen that shows the current sale, for example merchant GUI 1110. Thecurrent sale 1112 shows the items in the current point-of-saletransaction which is the second transaction in this embodiment. When amerchant selects the total price of the sale 1120 ($11.00 in thisexample diagram) the item input portion for the point-of-saletransaction is complete. The transaction can then be automatically ormanually transferred to a customer terminal to perform the paymentportion. The payment portion of the point-of-sale transaction can alsobe performed by the merchant using the merchant application.

FIG. 11B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminaldisplaying a customer GUI 850 showing the first customer continuing thepayment portion of the first point-of-sale transaction, in accordancewith an embodiment, which can be displayed on the customer facingterminal at the same time as the GUI 1110 is displayed in the merchantfacing terminal to a merchant interacting with a second customer.

FIG. 12A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminaldisplaying a merchant GUI 1210 showing options available to merchant forperforming the payment portion of the second point-of-sale transaction,in accordance with an embodiment. In this example embodiment, themerchant performs the payment portion of the second point-of-saletransaction for the second customer while the first customer performsthe payment portion of the first point-of-sale transaction. In otherexample embodiments, the payment portion for the second point-of-saletransaction can be performed by the second customer at the customerterminal after the payment portion of the first point-of-saletransaction is complete by the first customer. In still other exampleembodiments, the payment portion for the second point-of-saletransaction can be performed by a second customer terminal, therebyallowing a third point-of-sale transaction for a third customer to beinput by the merchant terminal while the payment portion for the firstpoint-of-sale transaction is processed for the first customer at thefirst customer terminal and while the payment portion of the secondpoint-of-sale transaction is also processed for the second customer atthe second customer terminal.

In the merchant GUI 1210, the merchant can split the check by selecting“split” 1222. The merchant can exit out of the payment options byselecting the “X” 1220, or can enter cash options 1225 if the customeris paying with cash. The merchant can also enter a card number 1228 orenter another payment method 1230 to perform the payment on the merchantterminal.

FIG. 12B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminaldisplaying a customer GUI showing the first customer continuing thepayment portion of the first point-of-sale transaction, in accordancewith an embodiment, which can be displayed on the customer facingterminal at the same time as the GUI 1210 is displayed in the merchantfacing terminal for a second customer.

FIG. 13A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminaldisplaying a merchant GUI 1310 showing a merchant's ability to make aselection of a dollar amount to be paid to the merchant, in accordancewith an embodiment. A merchant indicates the amount of money the secondcustomer has provided to the merchant ($11 in this embodiment) byselecting the $11 amount 1320.

FIG. 13B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminaldisplaying a customer GUI showing the first customer continuing thepayment portion of the first point-of-sale transaction, in accordancewith an embodiment, which can be displayed on the customer facingterminal at the same time as the GUI 1310 is displayed in the merchantfacing terminal for a second customer.

FIG. 14A illustrates an example view of a merchant facing terminaldisplaying a merchant GUI 1410 showing the monetary amount of changeavailable to a customer of the second point-of-sale transaction, inaccordance with an embodiment. A display box 1420 shows the amount ofchange that can be provided to a customer in accordance with an exampleembodiment where $73.75 was provided to the merchant and the change dueis $0.05. A merchant can select “OK” 1422 to complete the paymentportion of the point-of-sale transaction, or can select “Queue theReceipt” 1424 to queue the receipt.

FIG. 14B illustrates an example view of a customer facing terminaldisplaying a customer GUI showing the first customer continuing thepayment portion of the first point-of-sale transaction which occursconcurrently with the item input portion and, in this case, the paymentportion of the second point-of-sale transaction, in accordance with anembodiment, which can be displayed on the customer facing terminal atthe same time as the GUI 1410 is displayed in the merchant facingterminal for a second customer.

For clarity of explanation, in some instances the present technology maybe presented as including individual functional blocks includingfunctional blocks comprising devices, device components, steps orroutines in a method embodied in software, or combinations of hardwareand software.

In some embodiments the computer-readable storage devices, mediums, andmemories can include a cable or wireless signal containing a bit streamand the like. However, when mentioned, non-transitory computer-readablestorage media expressly exclude media such as energy, carrier signals,electromagnetic waves, and signals per se.

Methods according to the above-described examples can be implementedusing computer-executable instructions that are stored or otherwiseavailable from computer readable media. Such instructions can comprise,for example, instructions and data which cause or otherwise configure ageneral purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purposeprocessing device to perform a certain function or group of functions.Portions of computer resources used can be accessible over a network.The computer executable instructions may be, for example, binaries,intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, firmware, orsource code. Examples of computer-readable media that may be used tostore instructions, information used, and/or information created duringmethods according to described examples include magnetic or opticaldisks, flash memory, USB devices provided with non-volatile memory,networked storage devices, and so on.

Devices implementing methods according to these disclosures can comprisehardware, firmware and/or software, and can take any of a variety ofform factors. Typical examples of such form factors include laptops,smart phones, small form factor personal computers, personal digitalassistants, and so on. Functionality described herein also can beembodied in peripherals or add-in cards. Such functionality can also beimplemented on a circuit board among different chips or differentprocesses executing in a single device, by way of further example.

The instructions, media for conveying such instructions, computingresources for executing them, and other structures for supporting suchcomputing resources are means for providing the functions described inthese disclosures.

Although a variety of examples and other information was used to explainaspects within the scope of the appended claims, no limitation of theclaims should be implied based on particular features or arrangements insuch examples, as one of ordinary skill would be able to use theseexamples to derive a wide variety of implementations. Further andalthough some subject matter may have been described in languagespecific to examples of structural features and/or method steps, it isto be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claimsis not necessarily limited to these described features or acts. Forexample, such functionality can be distributed differently or performedin components other than those identified herein. Rather, the describedfeatures and steps are disclosed as examples of components of systemsand methods within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: presenting information on amerchant user interface of a merchant computing device, the merchantuser interface including a first window for receiving a first inputassociated with a first item of a first point-of-sale (POS) transaction;receiving, via the merchant computing device, the first input associatedwith the first item, the first input including at least one selection ofan item, the item being a good or a service sold by a merchantassociated with the merchant computing device; and in response toreceiving input, including the first input, associated with the firstPOS transaction: presenting, in a second window of the merchant userinterface, a status of the first POS transaction with respect to acustomer-facing interface associated with a customer computing device orthe merchant computing device; transferring control of the first POStransaction from the merchant computing device to the customer computingdevice such that receiving input associated with payment of the firstPOS transaction is enabled on the customer computing device; receiving,at the first window of the merchant user interface and concurrently withpresentation of the status of the first POS transaction in the secondwindow, a second input associated with a second POS transaction, thesecond input including at least one selection of a second item;receiving a payment input via a customer user interface, the paymentinput indicating payment information pertaining to the first POStransaction, the payment input received at the customer user interfaceconcurrently with the second input associated with the second POStransaction at the merchant user interface while continuing to display,in the second window on the merchant user interface, the status of thefirst POS transaction; and receiving, a notification of confirmedpayment for the first POS transaction.
 2. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising transferring control of the second POS transaction to thecustomer computing device after receiving input, including the secondinput, associated with the second POS transaction.
 3. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising transferring control of the second POStransaction to the customer computing device after receiving input,including the second input, associated with the second POS transactionand after receiving the notification of the confirmed payment of thefirst POS transaction.
 4. The method of claim 1 further comprisingdisplaying an indicator on the customer computing device to indicate atleast one step to provide the payment input for the first POStransaction.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising transferringcontrol to the customer computing device by direct connection betweenthe merchant computing device and the customer computing device.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising transferring control to thecustomer computing device by wireless connection between the merchantcomputing device and the customer computing device.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising initiating, after receiving the inputassociated with the first POS transaction and after receiving the inputassociated with the second POS transaction, but before closing the firstPOS transaction or the second POS transaction, a third POS transaction.8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: displaying a third windowon the merchant user interface, the third window displaying a list ofqueued POS transactions having an item-input portion and the paymentportion completed.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:displaying an indicator on the customer computing device based at leastin part on the first payment portion of the first POS transaction beingcomplete.
 10. A point-of-sale (POS) system comprising: a customercomputing device that displays a customer user interface configured toreceive a first input of payment information for a first POS transactionduring a payment portion of the first POS transaction; and a merchantcomputing device configured to display a merchant user interface on themerchant computing device, the merchant computing device configured to:receive, at a first window of the merchant user interface, the firstinput associated with a first item of the first POS transaction;present, at a second window of the merchant user interface, a status ofthe first POS transaction with respect to the customer computing device;receive, at the first window and concurrently with presentation of thestatus of the first POS transaction at the second window of the merchantuser interface, a second input associated with a second POS transaction,the second input including at least one selection of a second item; andreceive, a notification of a confirmed payment of the first POStransaction, the payment input received at the customer user interfaceconcurrently with the second input associated with the second POStransaction at the merchant user interface while continuing to display,in the second window on the merchant user interface, the status of thefirst POS transaction.
 11. The point-of-sale system of claim 10, whereinthe customer computing device comprises a first customer computingdevice, and the system further comprises a second customer computingdevice.
 12. The point-of-sale system of claim 10, wherein the customercomputing device is fixedly attached to the merchant computing device.13. The point-of-sale system of claim 10, wherein the customer computingdevice is detachably secured to the merchant computing device and thecustomer computing device is portable.
 14. The point-of-sale system ofclaim 10, wherein the merchant computing device is configured to closethe first POS transaction based at least in part on receiving a paymentnotification from the customer computing device.
 15. The point-of-salesystem of claim 10, wherein the status includes information regardingcontent displayed on the customer computing device.
 16. Thepoint-of-sale system of claim 10 wherein: at least one of the merchantcomputing device or the customer computing device is configured toaccept at least one of: a magnetic strip card; a chip-type card; or acardless payment type.
 17. The point of sale system of claim 10, theoperations further comprising processing a second payment portion forthe second POS transaction on the merchant computing device concurrentlywith the payment portion for the first POS transaction being processedon the customer computing device.
 18. The point of sale system of claim10, wherein the merchant computing device and the customer computingdevice are configured to communicate bidirectionally with each other.19. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising: computerexecutable instructions stored thereon, that when executed cause acomputer to: display information on a merchant user interface of amerchant computing device, the merchant user interface including a firstwindow configured to receive a first input for a first point-of-sale(POS) transaction; receive, via the merchant computing device, the firstinput associated with the first item, the first input including at leastone selection of an item, the item being a good or a service sold by amerchant associated with the merchant computing device; present, in thefirst window of the merchant user interface, input associated with thefirst POS transaction as received at a customer computing device;present, in a second window of the merchant user interface, a status ofthe first POS transaction on the customer computing device, wherein thestatus changes dynamically based on the input received via the customercomputing device; and receive, at the first window of the merchant userinterface and concurrently with presentation of the status of the firstPOS transaction in the second window of the merchant user interface, asecond input associated with an item-input portion of a second POStransaction at the merchant user interface while the second window ofthe merchant user interface displays the status.
 20. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions furthercause a computer to: finalize and close the first POS transaction aftera payment portion of the first POS transaction has completed on thecustomer computing device.
 21. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 19, wherein control of the first POS transaction istransferred to the customer computing device from the merchant computingdevice based at least in part on the item-input portion for the firstPOS transaction being complete.
 22. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 19, wherein the customer computing device comprises afirst customer computing device and control of the second POStransaction is transferred to a second customer computing device fromthe merchant computing device after completion of the item-input portionof the second POS transaction and after payment confirmation of thefirst POS transaction.